Australia

• First British settlements in Western Australia, 1826

  
  

  • Done to prevent the French, to provide trade to India and China and by recommendation of Captain Stirling
  • First settlers arrived in 1826 at Swan River
  • First colony struggled with famine
  • By 1932, it only had 1500 colonists
  • Shows how Britain now sees Australia as an opportunity for wealth, rather than an open prison
• The first crossing of the Blue Mountains

  
  

  • Happened after a drought and was in search of more grasslands and water
  • Led by Blaxland, Lawson, Wentworth and an Aboriginal guide
  • Inland river system provided more fertile land for settlers, provided for 100,000 sheep in 1820 and a million by 1830
  • Snake River allowed for the fishing of salmon to develop, helped feed the growing population
• The development of whaling and sealing

  
  

  • Began with the 3rd fleet in 1971 under Captain Thomas Melvill
  • Goods included: whalebone, whale oil and seal skin
  • Enabled the colonies to buy the goods they needed for the new colonies
  • Robert Campbell broke the EICs monopoly of the trade with 260 tons of oil extracted from the skins of 13,200 seals
• 1823 New South Wales Act altering the power system


  
  

  • A legislative council was created, no vote but worthy citizens were asked to join
  • Justice system became independent of the governor and supreme court was established with a chief justice
  • Van Dieman's land was to operate as a separate colony and a legislative council and supreme court were to operate there too
• Penal settlement in Van Dieman's Land, 1803


  
  

  • Was a dumping ground for the most hardened prisoners and acquired a fearsome reputation
  • Divided into police districts under the control of a police magistrate and control over free settlers was exercised by the withholding of labour
  • Convicts had to work through 7 levels of punishment for freedom
  • No early pardons
  • Due to Arthur's religious values, convicts found that sharing Christmas dinners resulted in their assigned labour getting dropped
• Impact of British settlement on the Aboriginal people

  
  

  • Captain Cook didn't think they were using/claiming the land when he arrived
  • 2,500 Aboriginals in the area
  • They stole the convicts spades and pickaxes, raising tensions
  • 30th May 1788, 2 convicts were murdered, mangled and butchered
  • 50% of coastal Aboriginal people wiped out by smallpox brought by the settlers
• The growth of the Maquarie towns

  
  

  • Spent more than London wanted
  • Built roads, schools, barracks and churches
  • used the skills of architects convict Frances Greenway
  • Examples of towns include Richmond and Winsor
  • Each town followed a plan and always had a school, church and an inn
• Macquarie's land grants and the Hawksbury river

  
  

  • First land grants in Hawksbury
  • Easier to transport goods, people and crops by water
  • Macquarie funded 5 towns by the river as it was good for fertilizing
  • In 1816, Macquarie attacked the Aboriginal people after they attacked Hawksbury river, killing 4 of them
• Botany Bay

  • First Fleet arrived in 18th January 1788
  • Travelling with commander Philip
  • Travelled 5000 miles over 6 months
  • 11 ships sailed in after 252 days
  • Fleet carried 1400 people, only 69 died
  • BB lacked fertile soil so they landed at Sydney Cove on 26th January
• Reasons for the colony

  • Cook's 1771 exploration claimed fertile land and ignored aboriginals
  • American war of independence meant criminals couldn't be transported there
  • Wooded prisons on the Thames were over crowded
  • Urbanisation and poverty in the 1780s meant an increase in crime
• The first British settlers

  • 1400 total
  • 775 convicts
  • 2/3 of convicts were accused of petty theft
  • 600 were marines or family of workers
  • Philip had no control over marines as they didn't answer to him, so he relied on seamen and convicts to support the colony
• Initial settlement failures

  • Within 6 months, livestock gone and nothing to plough
  • Buildings unsuccessful due to lack of mortar and couldn't make bricks
  • Everyone was housed in rudimentary wattle compared to governor's brick mansion
• Initial settlement successes

  • Due to 3% dying on the way there, they had enough food to avoid starvation
  • Philip shared out all rations equally, unpopular with marines but meant communal survival
  • Sydney Cove had more fertile land
  • James Ruse, a former convict, was able to grow wheat and other crops successfully
• The Second fleet

  • Lady Juliana carried 222 female convicts in June 1790
  • 2 weeks later Justinian arrived
  • 1/4 of the rest of the fleet died on the way there
  • 150 more died once on land due to starvation, scurvy, sanitation and disease
  • Failed because it was led by a private firm called 'Camden, Calvert and King'
• Irish prisoners

  • Arrived in 1791 and was the largest single group in the colony
  • Labelled as dangerous due to political nature of their crimes
  • They attempted to rebel against the Governor King in 1804
  • Majority convicted for theft
• Convict experience

  • Female convicts worked weaving cloth for clothing worn in the colony and were also domestic servants
  • Convicts worked 9-5 on weekdays and 5 hours on Saturdays
  • They worked slowly and badly due to not being free
  • Minor disobedience was 100 lashes
  • Male convicts outnumbered women 6:1
• Aboriginal genocide in Van Dieman's Land

  • Starved and hunted due to the need for their land for sheep farming
  • 3000-4000 aboriginals in VDL in 1803
  • Guns were given to settlers to kill them and kangaroos like sport
  • 1829 Governor Arthur forced their relocation because they kept stealing settler resources
  • The last Tasmanian Aboriginal died in 1876
• Bigge's report

  • Macquarie transforming it from prison to colony was unpopular with leaders back in London
  • In 1819, Lord Bathurst appointed John Thomas Bigge to report on if transportation was still effective
  • Bigge concluded that it had been taken in the wrong direction and recommended labour should only be on sheep farms and not public services
  • Also wanted to end early pardons, tickets of leave and land grants
• Effects of Bigge's report

  • New South Wales Act passed in 1823 that altered the powers of governors and paved the way for later self-government
  • Legislative council created, people weren't elected but citizens could be asked to serve as advisors to the governors
  • Justice system became independent of governors and a supreme court was established
  • VDL was independent
  • Companies began to set up
• 2nd fleet bringing food

  • 'Justinian' brought pigs and rice
  • Governor Philip sent 'Atlantic' to get rice from Calcutta and then go to London to ask for more food
• 2nd fleet for hope

  • Brought news from the old world in Europe
  • News of French Revolution and madness of King George III
  • 'Lady Juliana' brought boxes of letters